Free Will

There are a lot of questions about free will that come up all the time. If God intervenes because we prayed for him to, doesn't that take away the free will of someone else? (For example, if we pray that we get a job that someone else wanted, and God intervenes and helps us get the job.)

If God is all knowing, and knows what will happen in our lives before we do... doesn't that mean our lives are predestined?

If God gave us free will, why does he punish us for using it? (If we sin. How is it free will if there are rules?)

It's a hard concept to understand, and I'm not an apologist. A Catholic Apologist is someone who is an expert in Catholic theology, however let me try to explain it in the way I understand it.

Free will is misinterpreted. The main point of free will isn't "Do what you want, no consequences". The reason God gave us free will was because he wanted us to love him, but he didn't want us to love him because we were programed to. He wants us to give ourselves to him freely and knowingly. He wants us to choose to be good rather than evil.

It's not meant to be a free for all. Even with God, there are consequences for our actions. You choose to sin, you must face the consequences. You choose to do wrong, you must face his just punishment.

It's like theft. You don't have to walk into someone's yard and steal their kid's bike, but because of free will, you can. But you will go to jail for the theft. Just as someone doesn't have to get involved if they know you did it, but if they use their free will to report the theft, they could be given a small reward by the child's parents for the good deed.

Our choices, which are freely ours to make, will have consequences, both good and bad, both legal (Man made laws) and moral (God's laws)

So you have free will to choose to do good or evil, to choose to love God or deny him. But you have to remember that there are consequences, just as there was for Adam and Eve. They had free will to do whatever they wanted. The only rule was, "do not eat the fruit of one Tree". God didn't stop them from doing it, he gave them the test. How will they use the gift of free will he gave them? They used their free will to disobey God, and they were punished for what they did, much like someone who steals a bike is punished for their act.

But the main purpose of Free Will is more about our freedom to accept or reject God than it is if we have fish or steak for dinner. He gave us the choice to love him, or deny him, because he didn't want to be worshiped by force. He wants us to love him because we love him.

Then comes the questions of miracles. Why does God intercede in certain situations? What if he helps someone get a job because they prayed hard about it, doesn't that take away the free will of someone else vying for that job?

Miracles are never made to the detriment of another person, or to take away anyone's free will. Miracles are made to remind us that God is here and he loves us. It's to show people a light that there is more to this world than the hardships we face. It's a tap on the shoulder to try to turn his children back to him after they've walked away. It's about hope, it's about love. 

You've probably heard someone say "Everything happens for a reason". That's how miracles work. They're not meant to remove someone else's free will or to spurn one person for another. There is a purpose for all involved when God intervenes. There's a lesson in there, or a nudge back to God in there, or healing in there.

God doesn't want to take away our free will or put one person above another... God's miracles and intervention are his ways of showing us his love. If he wanted to take away our free will, he'd constantly be intervening and forcing us to do what he knows is right. It would be like me standing in front of two doors, and he removes one of the doors so I didn't have to choose which one to enter. I'd just do what he wanted, because he made the choice for me. That has never been God's way. So Miracles have nothing to do with free will or overstepping the gift he gave us.

Of course there is still a question about predestination. God is all knowing. He knows the beginning, he knows the end. He knows what we are going to do before we do it, is the common thinking. However that is not what I've gotten out of studying theology.

I think God knows everything... He knows from the moment we're conceived, our left and our right. He knows all the outcomes of every move we make, but it's still our choice to make. 

For example, Back to those two doors I mentioned earlier. One is marked "Do Not Enter" and one is marked "Welcome". God knows what will happen behind each door, but I am still free to choose which door to open and accept the consequences that follow.

So while God does know everything, he knows the outcome of both sides of the coin we toss... he still lets use choose. So our lives are not predestined. We are still free to make our own choices.

It's a heavy responsibility and it's very hard to understand at times... but that is what faith is all about.

We need to use the choices we are given to be good people, do good for others, help those in need, and love God with all our hearts and remember how much he loves us.

I hope this makes it somewhat easier to understand.

God bless

- I Say Amen -

Shroud of Turin / The Real Face of Jesus

Today is Holy Saturday, the day before resurrection morning. This is the day many will go to the church to have their Easter Sunday food blessed. (Ham, rolls, colored eggs, chocolates, wine, etc.) This food can not be touched until Easter Sunday. It was tough as a child to not touch those giant, milk chocolate, Cadbury bunnies. ha

But now that I'm older and chocolate isn't as important, Besides blessing food in the afternoon, one of my new traditions is to watch the History Channel's special "The Real Face of Jesus?" That takes us on a journey of the Shroud of Turin and digital artist Ray Downing who set out to pull the faint face from the holy cloth, and show what the person that left that image, would have looked like.

Since many believe the shroud to be that of Christ, through this documentary, we could be seeing the actual face of our Savior. If you go to the History Channel's website or amazon, you can purchase a DVD. For those who enjoy streaming (like I do) it's available to order on amazon instant download as well. If you can't afford the DVD or to own the streaming copy, you can watch on YouTube.

Again, the title is "The Real Face of Jesus" and it includes artist Ray Downing. (there are two versions of "the Face of Jesus" out there. this one is the better researched of the two.)

This is Ray Downing, the artist that appears in this documentary. I call him the artistic Henry Winkler. the "Fonz" of the Shroud of Turin.

You can visit Ray Downing's website at raydowning.com to see his work related to his artistic rendering of the face in the shroud, as well as other videos he's made on Jesus using the rendering, or to order prints. Brilliant man with a brilliant artistic skill.



The Shroud of Turin is a very interesting piece of history. 

Some say it is the burial cloth of Christ... embedded with Christ's image upon the glorious light of his Resurrection.

We know all things are possible with God, and also, We all know the story of St. Veronica. 

St Veronica's real name is unknown. She is referred to as St. Veronica because of the veil itself. In Latin the veil is called Vera Icon (true image)... and thus was derived the word "Veronica".  

Legend says the unnamed saint watched as Christ fell under the weight of his cross on the way to his crucifixion. She was so moved by the scene, she ran to him to wipe his bloody and dirt covered face. She removed her head veil to use. As a miracle in return for her act of kindness, he left his holy image on the veil that she used.

Now, it must be mentioned, there is no biblical basis for this legend. St. Veronica does not appear in the passion of Christ either in Matthew, Mark, Luke Or John. It is only depicted in the movies or art, Mostly as a way to explain the existence of the actual veil.



The veil of Veronica really exists, so where does it come from if not from someone who wiped his face on his way to the crucifixion?  

There is an unnamed woman in the gospels, for reference: Mark 5:25-34, who was hemorrhaging for 12 years... and through her faith that Christ could heal her, she got on her hands and knees, and touched the hems of his garment and was healed. 

Some wonder if the image of Jesus appeared on the woman's veil, rather than the story about his face being wiped during the crucifixion, as a sign of her healing through her faith in Christ. The Vatican is in possession of the veil.

It's also note-worthy, that while faint... the image on Veronica's veil, does not appear to be bloodied and bruised like the image on the shroud of Turin... so it is possible it was from the woman Christ miraculously healed long before Jesus' wounds and crucifixion.

that said, I bring it up to show, there is some religious precedent for such a miracle.

The Shroud of Tourin is very complex, and I can't really do it very much justice in my layman way except to say this much.

There are so many things about this shroud that is quiet interesting. 

1. No artist pigments or any artistic media has been found. Neither modern nor from ancient times. That means it most likely NOT the work of an artist.

2. Dr. Baima Ballone, Dr. Alan Alder, and the Late Dr. John Heller were able to procure a sample of what was once believed artistic blood(Painted). They were able to find that it was true blood. Typed AB (a rare type of blood), as well as degraded DNA and XY Chromosomes (meaning male). The Degraded DNA made it "Consistent with the supposition of ancient blood."

3. The Carbon dating of 1988 has come into questions. The Carbon dating put the shroud as a medieval. Now, I'm not a scientist, however, it is said by someone who IS a scientist, that the part of the shroud tested is a part that had been repaired in the middle ages after damage... and not part of the original cloth, so the results are deemed invalid. More modern testing of the original cloth does show that it could have been from around the period in which Christ would have died.

4. The shroud itself is in compliance with the traditional burial customs of that period. From the position of the body, to the way the body would have been wrapped based on the folds in the cloth.

5. Then of course the wounds. The wounds show an injury to the head that looks like points of blood caused by something sharp, a stab to the right side, stab marks in the wrists and feet, and slashes to the back resulting in severe bleeding.

We know a few things: one.. the crown of thorns was an abusive insult specific to Christ, it wasn't common practice to crown those about to be crucified with thorns. two... there is no artist that would subject themselves to such torture, by being beaten enough to create that much blood (since we know it's real blood)and then be wrapped in linen, in order to create an image of the crucified Christ.

Not to mention, newer carbon dating of the original cloth shows it to be around the year Christ died. There weren't artists standing under the cross sketching him as modern day sketch artists do.

So those wounds were real (as we know real blood has been found on the shroud)... the person in that image suffered. And they are exactly what is described in the bible. Scourges, bloody forehead, the wrists have holes (which actually goes more towards the belief that, to sustain a body, they would crucify a person through the wrists, not palms)... and through the feet.

There is also a lance wound in the side. The legs do not look broken. It was a practice to break the legs of the crucified to make them die faster if they were still alive after a certain time. Christ had already passed so they lanced his side to make sure he was dead rather than breaking his legs. Unbeknownst to them at the time, they fulfilled the prophecy that not a bone would be broken. (John 19:36)

So we have the wounds, the blood on those wounds being real blood, the valid carbon dating of the original cloth (Rather than the repaired section) dating back to Christ's time period, the traditional burial customs represented in the shroud, and the lack of any artistic medium known to exist at that time. 

Is the shroud truly the burial cloth of Christ? I personally believe so. If you do more research on this miraculous relic... 

FURTHER READING

Shroud Website

Shroud of Turin Evidence 

Turin-Shroud.com

The Real Face of Jesus DVD (also available on Amazon Instant Download for purchase, or you can rent it for $1.99. Viewable online or on your Roku)

Briefly returning to Veronica's veil... there have been some artistic experiments with both the face on the shroud and Veronica's veil. There was some detailing that had to be artistically done since the image on the veil is so faint... but after all was said and done...

The images matched up fairly close in the positioning of the eyes, the line up of the nose, and the features of the jawline/beard. Both date to the appropriate period which would be in the lifetime of Christ, further proving the authenticity of the shroud.

Passion of the Christ

One of my Good Friday and Holy Saturday Traditions is to watch Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ."

Never has there been so brutal a depiction of our savior's death. Some say it was overly graphic, decrying it as nothing gore.

Look at previous depictions of Christ's passion and you can see why some people were taken aback by the brutality. Even art wasn't nearly as graphic. Christ is usually depicted with small splashes of blood from his hands, feet, side and forehead. You rarely see his scourging depicted. Even the wound in his side barely bleeds in most artistic renderings.

Despite this, We know the reality is that, Christ suffered greatly. He was tortured before the crucifixion. We know he was scourged at the pillar. Historically speaking, scourging wasn't simply a good whipping...

The whips they used were made of leather with bone and metal to help tear at the flesh to inflict the most pain. the damage it would have done to the body would be insurmountable.

Head wounds also bleed more than most other wounds, even if superficial. So the wounds from the crown of thorns would have caused excessive bleeding that would have dripped down his face and into his eyes. It would have been much more bloody than a few trickles. His hair would have been soaked. 

The lance that pierced our Savior deep enough for blood and water to pour forth from his side, would have left a gaping wound.

That is not even to mention the wounds from the nails in his hands and feet, nor the wound he suffered to His shoulder when they stretched his arms on the cross.

That said, as brutal and painful as it is to watch, this is the most realistic depiction of what our Lord went through when he willingly offered his sufferings, death and resurrection for our sins.

Mel Gibson (who wrote and directed this production) spared no expense to historic detail, from the weapons we know they would have used, to even making sure the language was that which Christ would have spoken.

There are several scenes that, no matter how often I see this movie, they still reduce me to tears. Both involve our blessed Mother Mary, so accurately portrayed by Maia Morgenstern. the first is when Mary sees Jesus on his walk to his place of the crucifixion.

She sees him fall, and has a flashback to Jesus as a toddler falling. As any loving mother, she ran to her baby, grabbed him lovingly and told him that she was there for him as she embraced him. As she remembers this, she runs to Jesus, who she still sees as her little child, and embraces him. He merely smiles and says "See mother? I make all things new". It makes me tear every time to remember, To Mary, Jesus was still her baby, and to see him in such a state must have caused her great pain.

Inspired by Michaelangelo's Pieta, another powerful scene in the movie that reduces me to tears is the look in Mary's eyes as she holds the body of Christ removed from the cross. She stares directly into the camera, piercing through your soul as if to say, "Remember my Son's sacrifice for he so loved you, he gave himself to suffer and die for your salvation."

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Besides being the most accurate depiction of Christ's Passion to date, This movie is credited to have had many supernatural and miraculous events occur during the course of filming.

1. Jim Caviezel developed a deeper love for Christ after sharing in his suffering.

a. Mr. Caviezel was hit by lightening during filming. (The assistant director was hit twice coming to his aid) Both survived

b. When he fell with the cross on his shoulder, a scene that remains in the movie, he dislocated his shoulder, just as Christ's was dislocated when he was hung in the cross.

c. During the scourging, the whip missed his prosthetic skin twice and he felt the real sting of what the whip could do.
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2. The Movie saw many who worked on the film, convert to Catholicism including 2 unlikely figures.

a. a Muslim actor who portrayed one of the guards who repeatedly beat on Jim as Jesus Converted to Christianity and has remained Catholic since the film's release in 2004.

b. The actor who portrayed Judas, Luca Lionello, was a life-long atheist. He had a private event that occurred during the course of filming, and he eventually converted to Catholicism upon the film's wrap, and has been Catholic ever since.
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3. Many miracles are said to have taken place during the production of the film to those who worked on the film as well as those who were related to someone working on the film.

a. Jim and the Assistant director survived being struck by lightening and were able to continue filming.

b. a little girl of someone who worked on the set had 50 seizures a day. After the film's wrap, Her seizures slowed down. She could go months without one, and those she had were not as violent.

c. There were rumors that a few people were cured of disease, some that had vision or hearing problems were given full sight and sound.

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This movie was many things to many people. The discovery of faith, the reaffirming of faith, a vessel through which God performed many miracles, a reminder of Christ's suffering, the sharing in the suffering for some.

This should be a movie that every Catholic family should have and watch, not just on Easter, but every time they want to remember how much God loves us.

Good Friday Reflection

Praise to Christ for his most sorrowful passion. Through the blood and water that poured from his side, we are washed clean and made new. It is through his sorrowful passion that we are brought the glorious mystery of his resurrection and the promise that he will make a way for us to be with Him and the Father in heaven for eternity.

Praise to Christ's redeeming blood and the 7 glorious wounds, the selfless sacrifice he made for the love of us, to willingly offer himself to be the sacrificial lamb that we may find forgiveness through him, from God our Father,

Praise to the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Praise to the Holy Cross, upon which our savior lovingly carried to his place of crucifixion because he loved us so.

Blessed be Mother Mary of the seven sorrows as she held her Son and kissed his wounds after he was placed in her arms when taken down from the cross. Her love for God was so pure, that she bravely watched her Son die so that he could make everything new. She willingly took the role of our loving Mother for we are also God's children, and she loves us as her own.

Thanks be to God for this glorious Good Friday.

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God Bless my Readers

- I say Amen -